Fónfix Strategic Director Alan Eyre addresses some common smartphone issues in today's informative Q&A.
Q. My touch screen is cracked, but still working. Do I need to replace it?
A. "Once you have any cracks on the screen, or bleeding, then you should get it checked out. With most modern mobile phones the screen is not just the glass on top. It's usually connected to the LED or LCD underneath, so at some point, it's going to start affecting that.
"Screen repair prices are so competitive now, it's much more economical to get it repaired sooner rather than later. Up to 20% of all repairs we see are cracked screens; you wouldn't believe how many people still don't put a screen protector or protective case on their phone!
"There are some good glass or even nano liquid screen protectors out there today - about €30 would give you enough protection for your phone."
Q. Is it OK to leave your phone charging overnight?
A. "The short answer is no - you should take it out once it's fully charged. On some of the new fast-charging phones, that can be as quick as one-and-a-half hours. Nowadays, lots of people keep phone chargers in their car, by their bed, on their desk, everytime they put their phone down it's on charge.
"When were refurbishing phones one of the most interesting things we see is the battery charge cycle - or the number of times it's been charged up.
"Leaving it plugged in constantly eventually degrades the battery, causing that charging cycle to become less and less efficient. Normally, I charge my phone fully in the morning, then take it off and use it fully for the day, so I'm in a cycle rather than an hourly one."
Q. My battery is always low, what could be draining it?
A. "The biggest challenge for everybody on battery life are the apps that are running in the background. Snapchat, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram: If you don't close them down, they are constantly refreshing in the background, and running down your battery. A lot of apps are also unnecessarily use your location services, so if you haven't switched that off in the app, then it's constantly pulling down your location.
"The other thing is notifications. A lot of apps are constantly sending notifications - weather updates, news updates, even your email could be set so that your seeing every single email coming into your inbox. Apart from tweaking your settings, there are some very good YouTube videos with tips on how to improve the efficiency of your phone."
Q. I dropped my phone in the toilet, does the bag of rice trick work?
A. "Putting your phone in a bag of rice or the hot press can work in the very short term, but it's not going to solve the problem long term. Over the next few weeks, you're going that phone have technical difficulties, and at some point, it's just not going to function.
"Most phones today have an indicator to show whether it's been exposed to water. Often, when we open them up, there's evidence of water damage that the owner may not even have noticed. Maybe they accidentally left it down on a wet countertop and over time, that has caused some of the functional issues they're experiencing.
"If your drop your phone down the toilet or sink, my advice would be to dry it off with kitchen roll, keep it somewhere warm and dry, and get it look at as soon as you can."
Q. Are there any apps that are dangerous to download?
A. "You should only be downloading apps from reputable stores, such as Google play or the App Store on Apple.
"When you're on the open market, you just do not know what you're going to pull down with the app, it could be a virus, it could be a security issue, or it could simply just not function properly on your phone.
"What astounds us is how often people don't know they downloaded an app - they may have been on a website, clicked on a advert and suddenly there's an app downloading on their phone. Younger people especially, can have 30 to 40 pages of apps going on. My advice is to go to your mobile phone settings, where you can check which ones you're actually using and delete the others."
~
Thank you for reading through our Q&A with Alan Eyre, if you are having issues with your phone, check out our repairs section and check your warranty status to see if you are eligible for a free repair.
